


Blackwell Reunion

by macosa



Category: Blackwell Series (Video Games)
Genre: Afterlife fic, Gen, and headcanons, and some unavowed minor spoilers too, contains fanart by the author, post Epiphany, shameless fluff, there are Blackwell spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-13
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-07-11 23:48:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15983084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/macosa/pseuds/macosa
Summary: At the end of life, two old friends meet again.





	Blackwell Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> I drew a fanart with the same title some months ago, which you can find at the end of the fic.
> 
> I haven't written a thing in 2 years and this is the first long-ish thing I've ever written in Enlgish, but I recently suffered a loss on my own that made me just... get rid of my doubts and just vent-write a thing, no matter how many mistakes there may be (and if you find any, you can correct me anytime!)
> 
> So, this may be OOC and overly fluffy but who cares. It's afterlife fic, after all.

  **H** is first few moments dead aren't scary.

He feels calm. Relaxed. He didn't feel like this - he remembers now, he's remembering everything his fragile living mind wanted to erase - when he was a spook. That time he felt empty and alone, _and cold_.

This is new. This is where he's supposed to be.

Before he can even turn around on his feet, he hears a voice coming from behind.

"Hi, Joey"  


He knows perfectly well who's the owner of this voice - and really, he didn't expect anyone else to come and greet him - yet, as the memories come flooding in, his eyes widen in surprise anyway when he turns around and sees her.  


She looks just like the day they first met. Well, maybe not that scared or stressed. The bags under her eyes are gone and she sports an uncharacteristically wide smile that has no trace of awkwardness in it.

He doesn't speak at first, instead he searches around his neck for his tie. He hasn't worn one since the day he was born again and he's pretty sure he didn't wear one when he died, nevertheless a tie appears in his hand and he offers it to her, without a word.

She raises an eyebrow but if she has comments about how foolish he looks, she doesn't voices them.

Instead, she moves closer and takes the tie in right hand and Joy can feel the pull as she brings her close to her heart, sighing.  
  
She looks at him, tears in her eyes.

"This bothered me too, you know. I couldn't do this last time"

He's only now aware of his own tears streaming down his face.

He finally drops the tie - or it disappears, not that he cares - as they both move to embrace each other. He squeezes her thightly, even painfully, but she's laughing. He's sure he has never heard such a happy laugh from her. Her very soul is beaming, and he can feel light coming from her.

This could very well be a dream, but it's happening. In his dreams, she could never take the tie...

There's a million things he'd like to say, but he can't seem to force words out between sobs. No matter, his soul is certainly speaking for him, so he lets himself be.

  


*

  


He sees all the lost spooks on Earth, all the Bestowers and spirit guides. Too many of them, in all categories, are kids.

He recognizes Kendra and his brow furrows even more.

"Maybe I should go back. She doesn't deserve this" he says, realizing too late that he's spitting on Rosa's sacrifice.

She doesn't get angry at him, though. She jut looks at him with a thoughtful and kinda melancholic expression.

"I don't think it's possible, Joey. I think, bestower or spirit guide, you can only do it once".

Well, so much for his attempt at selflessness. He sighs and cringes a little in finding himself relieved.

"Damn it. So it'll always be like this"

"Yeah, I think so"

"Countless spooks, waiting to be saved, guides waiting for god knows how long and maybe even going all Madeline. Will that happen again?"

"I dont' know. Maybe?"

"And another medium will have to die for it. Great, just great".

He pouts as he puts his hands in his pockets, averting her gaze.

"I don't know" she says again.

That does little to reassure him.

There's silence for a while and then Joey feels her arms wrapping around him again.

Since when was she so comfortable with showing affection? And since when was he so willing to give in to it, pulling her closer and burying his face in her soulders? Must be this place. You don't care about reputation when you're dead.

"Hey" she says.

"Hey yourself" he responds.

"I'm here. I'm ok. And I'm _not_ leaving"

"I know"

She separates from him, looks right into his eyes.

"Maybe someone will need to die, but everyone will be saved eventually".

The anger she had managed to subdue takes hold of him again, for a moment.

" _Eventually_ " he repeats, scornfully "Why are you ok with all of this?"

She furrows her eyebrows.

"Do you really think I am?"

Realizing what a stupid thing he said, Joey forces himself to calm down.

"No, I don't" he concedes, and Rosa calms down herself.

"There's nothing we can do for them. _Literally, nothing_. But they will be saved, no matter how much time it takes. We can only wait for them and greet them when the time comes. And if a Bestower needs to die"

Joey interrupts, refusing to let it go that easily.

"A Bestower's life doesnt' matter less"

"No, but for all these people, for people like George Ostin and Lia Pierro and all the others, it's the only way they can be saved".

When Joey's jaw drops, her eyes widen, guilt emanating from her soul.

" _Oh my God._ Joey! I'm so sorry! All this time, you didn't know..."

Their were the first faces he forgot in his new life. The regret he felt knowing they couldn't be saved even when everyone else did, that didn't leave him even after he forgot. And yet, she's telling the truth. He can feel their souls among the countless ones all around them. 

His first instinct is to get agry - "Gee, Red, it would've nice to know before I spent a lifetime of guilt!" - but he guesses he can't blame her for forgetting to tell him. She was literally dying, after all.

He just sighs and smiles.

"Kendra will have her mother to return to, at least"

"She's doing great!" Rosa exclaims, almost giddy "She's meeting monsters, and demons and it's so cool, I almost envy her. Almost. Looking at her and her Bestower, I can't help but notice how little we knew about the whole ordeal. Hey, Joey. Did you know you could have used your ghost breat to write on windows?"

"Hold on, wait, wait, wait. I stopped following at 'cool'. What does that even mean in a sentence like this"

She pouts.

"Wow, Joey. How did you manage not to learn a thing in a whole second life?"

"You have to admit I almost got the hang on one of those computer things!"

"You set one on _fire_ "

"It's not my fault those things become more difficult to understand by the year" his smile falters a little "You would have been all over them"

She puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, believe me, I am. Even from here" she lets all those visions of Earth disappear into the ligth "I don't regret what I've done. Never did. Not everybody has a life, and it's sad. But at least, everyone has a death. It ins't that bad, is it?"

It's good so far.

"Jesus Christ, Red" he says, in a teasing tone, quickly wiping away new tears, lest she worries "you save the world once and now you think you can speak like a superhero"

"Hmph"

"Hope you enjoyed your time free of me, 'cause from now I won't stop bothering you"

"Oh no" she says in a flat tone, rolling her eyes "How shall I ever manage"

One last hug. For now, at least. There are many people Joey needs to meet. Lauren, Danny. Heck, he figures he owes Patricia a visit and maybe an apology. He also thinks he feels the presence of Nishanti and her dog, somewhere. He certainly owes that mutt an apology.

"See you later, Rosa"

"See you later, Joey"

  


  


  



End file.
